Thu, 02 Nov 2017 09:58:23 +0000
By Simon Muntemba And Chikumbi Katebe
HAKAINDE Hichilema deserved the roasting by BBC’s Stephen Sackur for lying that the presidential election petition was still active in court when not, the New Congress Party (NCP) Peter Chanda has charged.
Pastor Chanda said Mr Hichilema was not only ‘unpatriotic and bitter’ but also hypocritical as he did not recognise President Edgar Lungu when Britain, United States of America and other countries had recognised him.
And former UPND presidential spokesperson Edward Mumbi said it was a shame for Mr Hichilema who aspires for a higher office of the land to shamelessly tell lies using the international fora.
He was reacting to questions BBC’s Stephen Sackur put the UPND leader on the spot asking him why he expected dialogue with President Lungu whom he did not recognize.
The UPND President who is in the United Kingdom after being invited to give a speech at Chatham House was roasted by BBC’s Stephen Sackur when he appeared on the world popular Hardtalk programme.
Mr Sackur asked Mr Hichilema if he was going to run for elections despite having lost five times in a process, “the whole world fairly acknowledges as free and fair.”
Mr Hichilema responded, “Whether I am going to run again is not the point, the point is we are concerned about the process under which these elections are held…anyone is free to run including myself.”
Mr Hichilema further decried the conditions under which he was jailed and held in solitary confinement in the first eight days of his arrest, saying he was incarcerated on trumped up charges. Mr Sackur, however told Mr Hichilema that “in some countries, you might still be languishing in prison. Why are you making such a fuss about this whole episode? The United States under Secretary Linda Greenfield congratulated President Lungu, the British High Commissioner, and President Jacob Zuma meaning the election was fairly credible”
Meanwhile, NCP leader Peter Chanda has advised Mr Hichilema to take a deeper introspection of himself rather than point fingers at anyone or catalogue a litany of hopeless excuses for his failure to finding campus to political relevance.
Pastor Chanda said it was good that the BBC presenter pumped some sense in Mr Hichilema’s head who has embarked on a mission to tarnish the country’s image aboard for selfish reasons using the international fora.
“He is unpatriotic and bitter for having lost 5 times but our advice is that he should take a deeper introspection of himself to determine if he still think he possess the legitimacy to lead the once vibrant UPND,” Pastor Chanda said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mumbi who served as Mr Hichilema’s spokesperson said it was embarrassing that the UPND leader lied that there was a Presidential election petition in the Zambian court of law when not. Mr Mumbi said Mr Hichilema who lied on a number of issues against Zambia does not deserve to lead the nation.
And former Zambia Independent Monitoring Team president and human rights activists Alfred Zulu says Mr Hichilema should be more magnanimous and prove to the world that Zambia is bigger than himself, instead of focusing on his rancorous relationship with the President Edgar Lungu.
Mr Zulu said BBC’s Hard Talk was an international platform where Mr Hichilema should have demonstrated his potential as a future president of Zambia than begin unyielding debates that did not serve the interests of the nation.
He said Mr Hichilema completely failed to articulate himself against the bar of the interviewer who had done his homework on the subject far better than the guest presented himself.
